The BYOD movement seems to be changing the hardware landscape permanently and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. Naturally, this presents both opportunities and challenges. Security managers within the enterprise have less control then ever. “Anywhere access” has blurred the lines of what used to be called the corporate network perimeter.

So what are CIOs and CTOs specifically worried about with BYOD? Well for one, mobile devices can easily go missing while containing sensitive data and employers often cannot even assess the impact of data security breaches from compromised devices. But locking down employees’ personal devices is generally not an option.

So how can enterprises re-assert control over their data assets while still allowing employees to use their own smartphones as they choose? We’ll be discussing this and other questions during out live, interactive Q&A. So, be sure to clear your calendar and join in the discussion on March 26 at 9am PST.

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First and foremost, an API can’t be considered private if it is open for widespread public use, right?  A simple way of keeping an API private is to host the interface on a public network without explicitly advertising or documenting its existence.  This can work well initially but may lead to problems in the future. If your service is valuable enough that others want to get their hands on it, even an undocumented, unsupported, private API can easily end up becoming a depended-upon API for application developers, resulting in an outcry when the API publisher has the audacity to modify or retire its own service.

A better approach is to provide access control at run-time and restrict usage of your API to a few known parties. There are a great number of methods for protecting access to internal resources but the best ones are those that achieve a balance between ease of implementation and resistance to infiltration. Security at all costs can greatly increase the complexity of an interface and – in turn – the time required to complete the projects that depend on it. Instead, we need to implement access control that is practical. Thankfully, security protocols like SSL, HTTP Basic authentication and OAuth 2 are great for providing the basic level of access control needed to make it difficult for outsiders to use a private API. Bear in mind that there is much more to API security than simply validating identity but this is the minimum level needed to ensure a degree of privacy.

Although a private API’s developers are generally known to the publisher, the best private APIs utilize API portal components to provide self-service registrations and integration to their private developer communities. This can greatly reduce the friction involved in getting API integration-based projects started and reduce the overall project costs for B2B and mobile-based initiatives. In fact, many of the lessons of simplified design, documentation and administration learned from the public API world can be directly applied to private API management. While the ultimate goal may be different (driving efficient API usage for private APIs rather than far-reaching adoption of open APIs), the ways of getting there are largely the same.

A unique characteristic of private APIs is the need to manage groups of developers. Unlike the public API space, private API publishers will often define out of band contract terms before offering up a quick self-service integration mechanism for that team. This type of group-based role definition is particularly common in integration projects that occur between organizations and can stretch the limits of API portal software that has been built primarily for open API use. Ideally, an API portal should at least be capable of managing developers within groups, communities or organizational affiliations as part of the self-service registration process. Even better, the portal could  provide capabilities for managing whole communities as separate domains within the same infrastructure.

Designing a private API certainly requires a different perspective but the good news is that much of the knowledge around public API design can be directly applied to interfaces you want to keep secret. Of course, building the management and security capabilities required to expose the API to your trusted parties can be daunting but that is why a great API management portal and gateway combination can save the day.

Over the last few years, we’ve seen explosive growth in open APIs across North America, lead of course by the avant garde Internet companies on the West Coast. The API Management industry has focused much of its attention on the US market but the Web API movement has definitely made its way to other markets and the push towards mobile and device-based applications is clearly having an influence on enterprise architectures.

Western Europe has had a strong influence on the API scene, with notable government and enterprise organizations diving wholeheartedly into the collaborative, developer-focused open API space. London, in particular, has developed a thriving technology scene with tons of hackathons, codeathons, meetups and start-up companies trying to change the world or at least get rich trying.

At the moment, the open API scene in India is still in its infancy and I’m looking forward to helping the concept blossom in whatever way that I can. As you may be aware, the number of mobile devices being used in India is mind-boggling and the ratio of mobile-use-to-desktop-computing is much higher than in North America or Western Europe.  This quantity of mobile client platforms, combined with the large number of motivated developers on the scene, makes this a very intriguing open API marketplace. I can’t disclose any details on the nature of the project yet… but I’m hoping to to have exciting news to share in the near future, so stay tuned.

I’ve spent most of the summer in North America, for a variety of reasons and I’m excited that I will finally be getting back home to the UK so I can re-engage with the European API and mobile scene. We have some great Layer 7 API workshops scheduled across Europe over the next few months and hopefully we will uncover a few new and noteworthy European API publishers while we are on tour.

It took time and some adaptation for concepts like open source software, social media integration and viral marketing to become part of the enterprise world and I believe that opening up Web APIs will require a similar shift in mindset to work on the enterprise stage. The biggest ships take the longest to turn but modern businesses (even the most risk-averse) must be open to leveraging new technologies and architectural philosophies in order to avoid being left behind.

The buzz around Web APIs has definitely piqued the interest of big business and large enterprises have dipped their toes into its waters with the release of a few compelling APIs over the last year.  But, along with the excitement generated from opening new consumer channels and new avenues for innovation, there is still a  prevailing sense of danger associated with the API movement.

For many enterprises,  there is a fear that publishing APIs means giving up control of their services and data to an army of anonymous 16 year-old mobile developers. After all, who wants their carefully crafted brands and products to end up at the mercy of the masses? We’ve seen marketing experiments with “crowd sourcing” produce some interesting results in the past, so there is reason to be cautious when opening up the doors for collaboration in any form.

Of course, the good news is that the challenge of controlling APIs can be elegantly addressed with a strong API Management system. At Layer 7, our SecureSpan API Proxy gives enterprise customers the tools they need to maintain control over how content and services are used, allowing publishers to lock down APIs as much as they want.

However, publishers will also need to ensure that they provide enough accessibility to their API libraries or they will run the risk of exposing wonderful APIs that sit unused, waiting for developers to utilize them. APIs are only useful when they are used and a closed-door policy will not encourage anyone to sign up. That’s why we also offer the Layer API Portal, which is designed to facilitate developer community outreach and secure developer onboarding.

Making APIs attractive to the developer community is the key to increasing usage and it is becoming clear that developers want stability and control in the APIs they use. For example, Twitter’s continued restrictions on API usage and Facebook’s closure of the face.com face recognition API have created a small wave of backlash amongst their developer communities. While it’s not enough of a storm to make much of a dent in the uptake of Twitter or Facebook APIs,  application developers are realizing that building their apps based on APIs from which they may lose access is ultimately a losing proposition.

This is good news for larger enterprises as it signals a growing level of maturity in the API market and the need for stable, fairly-priced APIs that can support apps in the longer term. A set of well-designed, secure APIs with a well thought out revenue model is exactly the right fit for the large enterprise world.

So, are open APIs too open for enterprises? Probably. But enterprises will need to adapt or risk being unable to reach their customers as the device revolution continues at its explosive pace. Conversely, launching a poorly-designed API library just to get it out there can be an equally devastating misstep. Organizations need to think carefully and plan their API strategies in order to find the perfect balance between control and accessibility.

It isn’t easy for enterprises to embrace open APIs but when the risks are managed properly with a well-built API Gateway, developer portal and API strategy, the rewards can be immense.

OpenID Connect is an emerging standard that adds federated authentication to OAuth 2.0-enabled systems. It’s a suite of lightweight specifications that provide a framework for identity interactions via RESTful APIs. And in its simplest deployment, OpenID Connect allows all types of clients including browser-based, mobile and javascript to request and receive information about identities and currently authenticated sessions.

So, it’s a relatively simple protocol that helps make authenticating complicated scenarios easier. And let’s be honest – simple and easy are always welcome when it comes to securing RESTful APIs. Authorization and authentication are now available using only one technology. This makes life easier for anyone looking to secure their APIs.

But of course, questions always arise when discussing the various implementation scenarios for OpenID Connect. That’s why we’re excited to welcome Senior Software Developer Sascha Preibisch as our special guest for our July 10 Tech Talk Tuesday. He will answer any OpenID Connect questions you may have – so get those questions ready and join us on July 10 at 9am PDT.

Here’s how to join the discussion:

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On the day of the event, join on Livestream or Facebook:
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Tuesday, July 10 | 9am PDT | 12pm EDT | 5pm BST

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If you publish an API, you need a way to measure and understand how that API functions. You need a way to manage it. You need a way to measure it. APIs are becoming an essential part of the Internet and more enterprises are opening up their APIs to third-party developers.

Of course, API security is always a concern but if you publish an API, you also need to measure how it functions – what metrics are you concerned with? Are there any API errors my application is seeing? How does my API usually perform and is that changing? Is it slowing down or are there latency issues caused by using a proxy?

Key metrics API publishers need to consider include: errors, performance, availability, latency and response time. And with the Layer 7 API Portal, these metrics can be graphed and filtered by user, developer and API.

So be sure to join us tomorrow at 9am PDT when Layer 7 CTO Scott Morrison will take live questions from the stream. It’s a great chance to have your API analytics questions answered.

How to Attend:

Just visit the Layer 7 Facebook page at 9am PDT on June 12 and click the Livestream icon.

Don’t have Facebook? Simply click here to watch directly through Livestream.

How to Submit Questions:

On Facebook

•    Click on the Livestream PLAY button to join the stream
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APIs are popping up everywhere and creating amazing integration possibilities. One of the coolest demos I saw at Gluecon was Ducksboard’s dashboard service, which lets you create your own monitoring dashboard using a library of widgets for existing social and Cloud providers. You can even create your own widget and have your own data pushed to it via an API endpoint created just for you, on the fly – so sexy!

Thanks to everybody who came to my presentation Making Sense of API Access Control. I hope this shed some light on how to leverage OAuth for controlling access to REST-based APIs. A lot of the new APIs I discovered this week could certainly use some help in that regard. API key authentication in HTTP basic without password has its limitations. The slides from Making Sense of API Access Control are embedded below.

The M2M paradigm presents an exciting new opportunity for companies to use Layer 7’s API Management products.  APIs represent the key to unlocking the value of M2M by linking devices in the field to the core enterprise applications that are able to analyze and apply the data these devices produce. Layer 7 empowers organizations to make that link in a secure, scalable way:

• The SecureSpan SOA Gateway or API Proxy provides REST-based connectivity to heterogeneous enterprise systems
• The Layer 7 API Portal allows M2M API owners to set and enforce SLAs and provide comprehensive information to API users (smart device developers, network operators)
• The Layer 7 OAuth Toolkit configures access control policies that are fit for M2M and able to leverage existing back-end infrastructure

We already have customers achieving M2M success in the automotive, healthcare, media and energy industries. So, whether you’re a logistics company looking to get a real-time view of your global fleet, a retailer needing to manage your disparate warehouses or a telecommunications company providing a broad set of M2M services, we encourage you to apply our industry-leading technology as part of your solution.

Read the solution brief: Simplify M2M Integration with a SOA Gateway

While there are existing solutions for playing keep-up, many of them rely on isolation and restriction to prevent corporate assets from traveling too far from the enterprise. Unfortunately, I think employees – especially the more tech-savvy among them – will resent having corporate security policies installed on their devices or being limited to separate-but-equal wireless networks with limited access to the resources necessary to do their jobs. By focusing on containment and control, enterprises are missing an amazing opportunity to make BYOD work for them.

The efficiencies gained by embracing the inevitable and implementing some BYOD-centric systems should not be overlooked. Layer 7 customers are creating mobile applications designed specifically to support their employees, whether their devices are employee-owned or provided by IT.  Our solutions for security and governance of the APIs used by those applications can prevent data leakage, protect against incoming threats and provide access to only appropriate personnel.

So, whether your employees are baggage handlers determining the destination for a piece of lost luggage, nurses providing care to house-bound patients or remote employees connecting to their peers through a corporate directory and communication hub, the real winner is the bottom line. BYOD and mobile workforce enablement are opportunities to embrace – not afflictions to be cured – and we’re here to help.

Simply go to the Layer 7 Facebook page and click the Livestream icon to start watching live on Tuesday March 20 at 9am PDT (12pm EDT, 4pm GMT). We’ll be discussing the topic of OAuth Best Practices for API Access Control. We’ll start by talking about the broader aspects of API access control before diving deep into the specifics of OAuth.

And here’s where you come in… We’d love to answer any questions you have concerning OAuth, like: how to incorporate an existing API and identity provider or how to apply the different grant types used in OAuth. The more questions, the better! So be sure to tell your friends and join us on Tuesday March 20 at 9am PDT | 12pm EDT | 4pm GMT.